Category Archives: Russian

Andrei has sent in his Soviet classic in the hope of getting it working again as it should. This model has a lot of history in the Russian air force and a modified model made it all the way into space with Juri Gargarin.

The watch is not running and has received a lot of action in both the hands of the owner and previous watchmakers so I knew this would be a challenge I was accepting.

Mitka and I like to surprise each other with the odd watch here and there, and Mitka had something special in stock for me – a Russian Wolna calibre 2809. Probably one of the finest watches made in the USSR.

It’s a copy of the Zenith 135 movement, but with a couple of differences. A communist watches doesn’t need decorations, so those were left out, but it has the added feature of a central second hand instead of a sub-second hand. I’ll trade that any day! Continue reading →

I don’t get Russian wrist watches too often, and there is a good reason for that. It’s the value of these watches that normally doesn’t make it economical to service such a watch. But if you like them, and you want to wear the watch you have, it doesn’t really matter.

I bought this lovely ladies’ watch on eBay from a guy in Belarus (vlad7600). Not only did he ship very quickly, but the watch was as described, so full marks for him. I bought it for £3.13 plus £3.13 postage. Not bad for a total of £6.26 ;-).

Currently, my daughter has a quartz watch with a cat on it, and I’d like her to have something a bit nicer.Our own Cirrus made a valiant effort to free her from the chains of her current watch, and sent me a nice looking pin-pallet ladies’ watch, but it was too worn out to be repaired…

My next Russian pocket watch project – a “Raketa” (you have to love that name). Very unique design, and very 70s I would say. It has a date display and central second hand as well, and it comes in a very sturdy case. Let’s see what’s inside!